Civil War: Cartography and Casualties
(1) Before starting the map work below, set up a key in the lower left-hand corner of your map.
The solid arrow represents Confederate troop movements. Trace over this arrow with
a colored pencil, marker, pen, or lead pencil. Use the same pencil, marker or pen to fill in the
battle symbol in the key that will represent a Confederate victory on the map. Find the dotted
arrow in the in the key that represents Union troop movements. Trace over the
arrow with a different colored pencil, marker, or pen. Shade in the battle symbol that will show
a Union victory.
(2) Throughout the map exercise, use the same color for all Confederate troop movements (the
solid arrows) and Confederate victories (the battle symbols).
(3) When printing information on the map, always use small letters.
Fort Sumter
The Confederate States of America quickly seized nearly all federal property within its borders.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis demanded that Northern troops abandon Fort Sumter
in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. Sumter was one of only two forts that still
remained in Union hands. When Major Robert Anderson refused to leave the five-sided brick
structure, (upon which the Pentagon was later modeled after) the Southerners surrounded it
with cannons. President Abraham Lincoln announced that he was sending a supply ship to the
fort. The Confederates, who considered Sumter to be theirs because it was on southern soil,
viewed Lincoln’s decision as an act of war. Jefferson Davis ordered his commander at
Charleston to open fire. Cheered on by well-dresses ladies and gentlemen who lined the
waterfront, gunners fired some 4,000 shells at the fort during a 34-hour bombardment. Major
Anderson and his 67 men surrendered.
On the map:
(1)
Lightly shade the seven Southern states that seceded and formed the Confederate States
of America following Lincoln’s victory in the Election of 1860. (Do not shade the battle
symbols.)
South Carolina Florida Georgia Texas
Mississippi
Alabama Louisiana
(2)
Color the battle symbol at Fort Sumter to represent a Confederate victory.
(3)
Print April 1861 next to Fort Sumter.
Battle of Bull Run Part I (Manassas)
The firing on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War. President Lincoln used his
war powers to call for 75,000 volunteers to end the rebellion. He also established a blockade of
Southern ports. These actions caused four more states to secede, bringing the total to eleven.
The Confederacy, having few factories of its own, needed to sell cotton to Great Britain and
France in order to raise money to buy war materials. But the South had few warships and merchant
ships to break the northern blockade. A small number of “blockade-runners” managed to slip past the
Union Navy, but not nearly enough to prevent the huge shortages that occurred during the war. The
Confederacy hoped that Great Britain and France, needing cotton for their factories, would come to
the aid of the South. But this never happened, and the blockade proved to be the North’s most
effective weapon in its eventual victory over the South.
Three months after Fort Sumter surrendered, General Irvin McDowell led the hastily
assembled Union Army into northern Virginia. Hundreds of citizens from Washington followed the
soldiers in order to witness the anticipated rout of the “Johnny Rebs,” as the Confederates were
called. Near the town of Manassas, on Bull Run creek, the Union Army launched several assaults on
Confederate positions. But the attackers repeatedly were driven back. A Confederate general named
Thomas J. Jackson held his ground with such determination that he earned the nickname
“Stonewall.” The Southerners then counterattacked. The Union lines broke, and the overconfident
North now realized that the Civl War would be a long and difficult struggle.
On the Map:
(1) In the box, following number 1, print April 1861: Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers.
(2) Next to the line of ships along the Southern coast, print the word blockade.
(3) Lightly shade the four other states the joined the Confederacy using a different color than you
used for the first seven: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
(4) Color the battle symbol at First Bull Run to represent a Confederate victory. Next to it, print
July 1861.
_______________________________________________________
The War in the East: 1862-1863
The Civil War became almost two separate conflicts. In the East, the Union wanted to capture
Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States. West of the Appalachian Mountains, the Union
hoped to gain control of the Mississippi River, thereby dividing the Confederacy.
After the disastrous Battle of Bull Run, President Lincoln appointed General George B.
McClellan commander of the eastern army. As McClellan trained his men for the next battle, an
important event occurred at Hampton Roads, Virginia. Two ironclad warships, the Northern
“Monitor” and the Southern “Merrimack” bounced shells off each other for two hours while thousands
of spectators watched from shore. This sea battle, which ended in a draw, signaled the end for wooden
ships in the navies of the world.
General McClellan, with more than 100,000 troops, advanced toward Richmond. In the
summer of 1862, he and General Robert E. Lee with 85,000 soldiers met in the Battles of the Seven
Days. The two fought on even terms before McClellan, thinking he was hopelessly outnumbered, gave
the order to retreat. Richmond was saved. Two months later, Lee and his “right arm” –Stonewall
Jackson—defeated Union forces under General John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
General Lee now decided to invade Union territory, hoping that a victory in the North
would bring more help from foreign countries. But the Battle of Antietam, fought in Maryland,
resulted in heavy losses. An estimated 24,000 Northern and Southern troops were killed in one of the
bloodiest battles of the war. Lee was forced to retreat into Virginia.
General McClellan did not pursue Lee after his victory at Antietam. President Lincoln
lost patience with his overcautious commander and replaced him with General Ambrose E. Burnside.
In December 1862, Lee’s army thrashed Burnside’s troops at Fredericksburg. Burnside resigned, and
General Joseph Hooker took command. The following spring, Lee defeated Hooker at
Chancellorsville, despite being outnumbered 120,000 to 60,000. In this battle, General Stonewall
Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men. He died eight days later. Jackson’s death was a major
blow to the South.
The victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville boosted Lee’s confidence and
encouraged him to once again invade the North. He felt he had to take the offensive in order to win
the Civil War. The Confederate Army marched into Pennsylvania where they met Union troops under
General George G. Meade at Gettysburg. The Northern army had 90,000 men and the Southern army
75,000. Meade’s Union forces occupied a strong defensive position overlooking the battlefield.
Confederate assaults were driven back by a hail of bullets and shells. The Battle of Gettysburg cost
General Lee 22,00 men dead and wounded. Meade lost 17,000. It was the greatest battle of the war.
The battered Confederate Army never again had the strength to mount a major offensive. Gettysburg
proved to be the “turning point” of the Civil War.
On the map:
(1) In the box, following number 2, print Union strategy: blockade the coast, control the
Mississippi, and capture Richmond.
(2) Print March 1862: Monitor and Merrimack in the Atlantic Ocean at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
(3) Color the battle symbol for the Battles of the Seven Days to show a Union victory (all but one of
these battles was a union victory-- even though McClellan treated these victories as losses…).
Print June 1862 next to it.
(4) Color the battle symbol for the Second Battle of Bull Run to represent a Confederate victory.
Print August 1862 next to it.
(5) Trace Arrow 1 to show the Confederate march to Antietam. Color the battle symbol to represent
a Union victory. Print September 1862 next to it.
(6) Color the battle symbols at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville for the confederates. Print
December 1862 next to Fredericksburg and May 1863 at Chancellorsville.
(7) Trace Arrow 2 to show the Confederate advance to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Print Lee next to
it. Color the battle symbol to represent a Union victory. Print July 1863: Turning point of the
Civil War.
The War in the West, 1862-1863
The North’s objective on the Western front was to take control of the Mississippi River and
split the Confederacy into two parts. Northern forces in the West numbered 100,000. Southern
troops totaled 70,000.
General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, key Confederate strongholds
along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. These conquests made Grant a national hero.
In April 1862, General Grant suffered heavy losses during the first day of the battle of Shiloh,
but forced the Southerners to retreat on the second day. Two weeks later, a Union naval squadron
under Admiral David Farragut steamed up the Mississippi and captured New Orleans.
After their hard earned victory at Shiloh, the Union Army took control of Memphis, Tennessee.
Vicksburg, located on the Mississippi between Memphis and New Orleans, was the only important
city left along the river. Grant’s men surrounded Vicksburg and prevented supplies from reaching
it. The city surrendered six weeks later on July 4, 1863, one day after the crucial Union victory at
Gettysburg. The North now controlled the entire length of the Mississippi River. A few months
later, General Grant moved into eastern Tennessee and dealt the Confederates a stunning defeat at
Chattanooga.
On the map:
(1) Color the battle symbols at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh to represent Union
victories. Print February 1862 next to Henry and Donelson, and April 1862 next to Shiloh.
(2) Trace Arrow 3 to New Orleans, and print Farragut next to it. Color the battle symbol at New
Orleans for the Union. Print April 1862.
(3) Trace Arrow 4 to show the Union advance from Fort Henry and Fort Donelson to
Vicksburg. Print Grant next to the arrow. Color the battle symbol at Vicksburg to represent
a Union victory. Print July 1863.
(4) Trace Arrow 5 from Vicksburg to Chattanooga, and print Grant next to it. Color the battle
symbol to show a Union victory. Print November 1863.
Last Years of the War, 1864-1865
President Lincoln made General Grant the commander of all Union armies. The West was now
under Northern control. Southern armies were being worn down by battle fatigue and mounting
casualties. Resources were swindling because of the ever tightening blockade. Yet despite the North’s
manpower advantage, naval supremacy, and stockpile of war materials, the South continued to offer
stiff resistance.
When Grant closed in on Richmond, General Lee and the outnumbered Confederates fought
him to a draw in several battles before winning the Battle of Cold Harbor. Grant’s losses in a month of
fighting reached a staggering 55,000 men. But he continued to apply pressure on Lee’s valiant troops.
Meanwhile, Union general William T. Sherman’s army of 90,000 captured and burned Atlanta,
then swept across Georgia to Savannah. This famous “march to the sea” cut a 60 mile wide path of
destruction through the heart of the South. Sherman’s men destroyed crops, cattle, factories, railways,
and everything else of potential military value. The eastern Confederacy was now cut in half. The
Union Army left Savannah and moved through South Carolina and into North Carolina.
In Virginia, General Lee and his Confederate troops had to evacuate Petersburg, after a long
siege, and finally Richmond. As he retreated westward, Lee realized that it was useless to continue the
fight. He met with General Grant in a farmhouse in the small settlement of Appomattox Court House
and surrendered his army. Confederate forces in the other Southern states also surrendered. The Civil
War was over. The Union was saved.
On the map:
1. In the box, following number 3, print March 1864: Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant
commander of all Union forces.
2. Color the battle symbol at Cold Harbor to show a Confederate victory. Print June 1864 next to
it.
3. Color the battle symbol at Atlanta to represent a Union victory. Print September 1864 next to
it.
4. Trace Arrow 6 from Atlanta to Savannah, then north through the Carolinas. Print Sherman:
November 1864-April 1865 alongside of it. Color the battle symbol at Savannah to show a
Union victory.
5. Color the symbols at Petersburg and Richmond for the Union. Print April 1865 next to the
symbols.
6. At Appomattox Court House, print April 1865: Lee surrenders to Grant (obviously a Union
victory!!!!).
7. In the box, following number 4, print April 1865: The Civil War ends with the North defeating
the South.
Done!